Danube Identity and Border Citizenship: Towards a New European Landlocked («Danubian») Hansa?

Abstract

The Danube is a natural transport magisterial and a joint water resource; yet identities, local citizenships and communities around the river were created mostly on local bases, inside the national communities, maybe with partial involvement of nearby ethnicities, or communities. Cross-regional tourist projects and travel along the river are predominantly of foreign origin, with the locals participating in it only accidentally. There are cross-natural cultural projects modelling broader Danubian identities in literature and arts, but the broader public opinion does not follow their scope and remains limited to a narrower region around the riverside.